Social Victorians/People/Craven

Also Known As

• Family name: Craven
• Mr. Caryl Craven
• Earl of Craven
  • George Grimston Craven, 3rd Earl of Craven (25 August 1866 – 7 December 1883)
  • William George Robert Craven, 4th Earl of Craven (7 December 1883 – 10 July 1921)
• Viscount Uffington
  • William George Robert Craven, Viscount Uffington (1868 – 1883)

Demographics

Caryl Craven

Residences

• Middlesex, London, "Living on his own means" (1891)
• 49 Hill Street, St. George, Hanover, Westminster (at least 1897–1899)
• St Marylebone, London with one visitor and 2 male and 2 female servants: Frank Telfer Melrose (27), George Sidney Victery [? Vickery?] (24), Elizabeth Wren (35), and Annie Mable Wells (19).

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

• Hugh Coughlan, Esq., visitor in 1911 census.

Earls of Craven

Nationality

• Cornelia Martin, American

Timeline

1893 April 18, William George Robert Craven and Cornelia Martin married.

1895 February 1, Caryl Craven "assisted" Daisy, Countess of Warwick with her bal poudre. The Queen's detailed report on the ball includes this mention of Craven's presence at the house party as well as the ball: "Mr Caryl Craven, to whom so many thanks are due for the able way in which he assisted his charming hostess in carrying out her scheme, Mr Craven being quite an authority on eighteenth century French art and dress." According to the Leicester Journal, "The State rooms at the Castle, arranged under the supervision of the Countess of Warwick, with the advice of Mr. Caryl Craven, were each copied from a picture of the period." The London Daily Telegraph reported that "Mr. Caryl Craven, who gave Lady Warwick substantial assistance in the arduous task of arranging her ball in the complete and beautiful way which ensured its signal success, wore handsome white-and-gold Mousquetaire dress."

1897 June 19, Saturday, Mr. Caryl Craven was in a short list of people reported to have attended a "large party at dinner ... at the Savoy Hotel" hosted by Madame Melba.

1897 July 2, Friday, the day of the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House. According to the Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald, "Mr. Caryl Craven, who is so clever in such matters, is helping the Duchess of Leeds with her dress; in fact, everyone seems pressed into the service, and the result will be one of the most brilliant sights that ever was seen." Katherine, Duchess of Leeds was dressed as the fictional Persian character Lalla Rookh.

1898 January 15, Saturday, Vanity Fair, according to the Southern Echo, described an imaginary "Society Theatre" that included Caryl Craven as "scene-painter and decorator":

"Vanity Fair," alluding to the craze in Society for theatricals, says: — Imagine a theatre — we will christen it in advance The Society Theatre — of which the manager would be Lord Rosslyn, the scene-painter and decorator Mr. Caryl Craven, and the play-writer Mr. lan Malcolm; while the actors might be Lady Mar and Kellie, Mrs. "Willie" James, Miss Muriel Wilson, the Duchess of Marlborough, Lady Randolph Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough and Mr. Leo Trevor; or again, an alternative company composed of Dorothy Lady Cantelupe, Lady Dorothy FitzClarence, Miss Hopwood, Lady Ridley, and Lord Kilmarnock.

Family

Caryl Craven

• Caryl Walter Craven (7 October 1860 – 27 February 1942)

Earls of Craven

• George Grimston Craven, 3rd Earl of Craven (16 March 1841 – 7 December 1883)
• Hon. Evelyn Laura Barrington Craven (16 July 1848 – 9 November 1924)

1. William George Robert Craven (16 December 1868 – 10 July 1921)

• William George Robert Craven, 4th Earl of Craven (16 December 1868 – 10 July 1921)
• Cornelia Martin (22 September 1876 – 19 May 1961)

1. William George Bradley Craven, 5th Earl of Craven (31 July 1897 – 15 September 1932)

Relations

• Caryl Walter Craven was the son of Hon. George Augustus Craven and grandson of General William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven.

Notes and Questions

1. Caryl Craven attended a number of social events, especially weddings (at least as reported in the papers), in the 1890s that included the Prince of Wales and people from his social network. Craven's gifts to the couple are mentioned in these reports, often jewelry and expensive household items. He seems to have been friends with Daisy, Countess Warwick and helped her organize and host a successful bal poudre (a kind of fancy-dress ball in which people wore 18th-century styles) in 1895.
2. Caryl Craven was, according to The Queen, "quite an authority on eighteenth century French art and dress."
3. Caryl Walter Craven's estate was probated in two "grants," 23 October 1942 and 3 March 1943, both to "Cynthia Cicely Thomas (wife of Robert Henry Cunliffe Thomas." The first was "save and except settled land" and was valued at £25,436; the second must have been the "settled land."